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Booking.com announces support of new commitments in Europe

Under the new commitments, Booking.com will abandon its price, availability and booking conditions parity provisions with respect to other online travel agencies.

AMSTERDAM – Booking.com, an operating business of The Priceline Group announced its support of recent decisions by the National Competition Authorities in France, Italy and Sweden to accept amendments to Booking.com’s parity commitments in respect of hotels located in those countries.  

Under the new commitments, Booking.com will abandon its price, availability and booking conditions parity provisions with respect to other online travel agencies. This will create an environment that supports increased transparency and competition among online travel agencies which will ultimately benefit consumers, as well as hoteliers, by encouraging the freedom for properties to offer different pricing and booking policies (e.g. free cancellation, WIFI, breakfast) through different online travel agencies.

The commitments do allow Booking.com to retain its “narrow MFNs” for prices and booking conditions which will ensure hotels offer the same rates and booking conditions on Booking.com as they do through their own direct website. Furthermore, the commitments do allow Booking.com to require a minimum allocation, or some availability, from hotels. This assurance of being able to offer competing prices and being able to offer rooms allows Booking.com to continue to provide consumers a coveted and valuable service that delivers transparency, access to information, choice, value and a seamless experience for consumers, and also allows Booking.com to continue to serve as a highly cost-effective marketing channel for hotels, by helping the hotels to market and promote their property to consumers around the world, reach new subsets of travelers and ultimately fill their rooms to keep their businesses growing.  

“Our business and teams are driven by one goal, which is to deliver an amazing, unrivaled experience to our global customers who use us to find and book accommodations in a simple, convenient and trustworthy way, both here in Europe and around the world,” said Darren Huston, CEO of Booking.com. “We welcome and encourage fair competition in the marketplace because competition drives innovation, efficiencies, and most importantly, greater value for consumers. We believe today’s decisions represent a continued, coordinated effort to promote competition in a way that supports innovation and encourages companies like ours to continue to invest in the capacity and technical solutions that ultimately result in more customers for our partners and more tourism across Europe and abroad.”

Booking.com intends to implement these commitments throughout the European Economic Area and is working with all other European National Competition Authorities towards this objective. Booking.com trusts that its commitments will set the tone for an industry wide solution which all European NCAs will endorse and safeguard.

Booking.com launches the first instant booking travel app for Apple Watch
Also, Booking.com announced the launch of the Booking Now app for the Apple Watch. Booking Now, which draws from Booking.com’s vast selection of over 625,000 properties in more than 75,000 unique destinations, is the first and only travel app to enable users to book a stay directly from their Watch, and in just one touch. Through the use of Apple’s new pressure sensitive ‘force touch’ technology, spontaneous travelers are now able to choose and book the nearest relevant hotel in one simple gesture.

Through the app, travelers can also instantly manage key aspects of their reservation with the new ‘glances’ feature of the Apple Watch via a simple swipe. Other features include the ability for spontaneous travelers to save the location of their chosen property, as well as turn-by-turn navigation to direct them quickly to the accommodation. Travelers will never forget their hotel room number again as the watch will save this for the duration of their stay. It also allows them to rate their overall check-in experience.

“At Booking.com, we’re dedicated to empowering travelers to simply search and book an accommodation that’s just right for them, no matter which screen or device. Bringing Booking Now to the Apple Watch is the next chapter in our relentless commitment to innovation. By integrating cutting- edge technologies we are able to streamline the booking process even further which allows users to secure the right accommodation with ultimate ease,” said Stuart Frisby, Principal Designer at Booking.com.

He continues: “The Booking Now app for the Apple Watch is designed to meet today’s growing preference for on-demand and instantaneous travel while offering a simple and tailored experience on arguably the most personal computer ever made. 96% of global travelers agree that technology has made it easier to book travel, with 85% agreeing that because it makes booking on the go easier they can also be more spontaneous; however 67% would prefer to reduce their time spent online while traveling. Our innovative app delivers the best of both – users can really do less to get more.”

Backed by Booking.com’s reliable global network with 24/7 customer support and access to the world’s largest database of more than 45 million verified guest reviews, Booking Now for the Apple Watch is designed to sit alongside the existing Booking Now iPhone app. The mobile app provides travelers with on-the-go solutions to effortlessly and instantly make a reservation at the nearest property that matches their personal preferences with no hidden fees and a seamless “pay when you stay” model.  

Booking Now, which is available in 15 languages, will be available for download on the Apple Watch in the Apple App Store.

Co-Founder & Managing Director - Travel Media Applications | Website | + Posts

Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.

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